Rules of the Game: Part Two of The Oath-taker's Challenge

By Linda McCarty

At terrible cost, the High King has returned, and while most in the five kingdoms rejoice, the companions struggle with grief and guilt over decisions made and losses incurred. They have little time to mourn however as it soon becomes clear that the enemy destroyed to bring back the king, was not the biggest challenge they would face.
Accompanied by Dorian and Rodama, the two youngest and most impulsive members of the company, Duncan and Janaya set out on a mission for the new High King. Joined by the volatile twins Romendil and Gilraen, they travel across the southern desert to investigate reports of missing children, only to discover that though they may have destroyed the heart of the enemy in the last battle, its spirit remains alive and a bigger threat than ever.
Ariana and the young healer, Rhia, unaware of the discoveries of their friends, and struggling with their own guilt and grief, embark on a journey that will eventually carry them to the ancient realm of the sea ree’ma where they will learn the meaning of a mysterious artifact they have unwittingly been carrying with them.
Soon the Valley of the Moon, the peaceful home of the oath-takers for two and half millennia, will draw all of the companions together for another desperate battle, which will bring Ariana and Rhia face-to-face with the evil sorceress, Elrhoheranan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda McCarty
• Release date: Nov 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301543083

Linda McCarty

Linda McCarty is a retired teacher. She spent twenty-five years in public school classrooms trying to convince her students that learning is fun and exciting and a lifelong endeavor. Before taking on the challenges of elementary and high school classrooms, she taught scuba diving and sailing and still teaches safe boating with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. She also has the great pleasure of traveling the country training Information Services Officers for the United States Coast Guard. She began writing as an innocent pastime, and then an exchange of postcards and scribbled notes began to take on a life of its own and grew into three novels. When she began writing poetry in her classroom to encourage her student’s efforts, she discovered a new love. Linda’s love of writing is eclipsed only by her love of family. She and her husband have no children of their own, but they proudly play the roles of Uncle Chuck and Aunt Linda for her brothers’ and sister’s six wonderful children and a growing number of magical grandchildren.

Book preview

Child’s Play

Part Three of

The Oath-takers’ Challenge

Linda McCarty & Elizabeth Berry

Published by Dunromin House at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Linda McCarty & Elizabeth Berry

Cover Image: The Wizard’s Tower by Ateliersommerland

Copyright Ateliersommerland / Dreamstime.com

Smashwords Edition, License Note

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Table of Contents

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Books by Linda McCarty

About the Authors

Forward

Though the powerful sorceress, Elrhoheranan’s, bid to seize the Valley of the Moon has been thwarted, she is still out there, and the High King and his companions are no closer than they ever were to understanding how to defeat her. The secret seems to lie in a mysterious rune shaped cloak pin currently in the hands of a ten-year-old boy.

Chapter 1

"Elentir?"

Hmm?

What’s this one?

Elentir looked up from the roots he was digging up and said, That’s called dragon’s tongue. Feel the flowers and then crush one of the leaves and smell it. Elentir watched as the boy did as he was told.

The flowers feel kind-a waxy, said Alaric right away, and the leaves smell sweet, sort-a like honey.

Good, said Elentir. You’ll only see the flowers at this time of year. They appear early in the month of Ahna Laughing and are gone within a few weeks. After you’ve drawn the picture of the plant in your notebook, write down what you just told me about the texture of the flowers and the smell of the leaves. That’ll help you remember it in the future. While you’re doing that, I’ll gather some of the leaves, and when you’re ready, I’ll tell you some of the things it’s good for. You can record those in your journal as well.

Alaric set to work on his drawing, and Elentir watched him for a few moments before digging the last of the bulbs he wanted and making good on his word by gathering the dragon tongue leaves to add to the morning’s collection of medicinal plants and herbs.

Elentir?

Yes.

What do you think everyone else is doing right now?

Well, let’s see, said Elentir, sitting back on his heels and watching the boy draw, I imagine Colin is busy doing High King stuff, and Talroy is busy helping him. Rhia is preparing to take her oath; Ariana is focusing on trying to figure out how to destroy Elrhoheranan next time she shows up; and Duncan, Gil, Rom, Janaya, Rodama, and Dorian are trying to help her. Elaine is waiting for her baby to be born, Danni’s taking care of her, and Nathan is training to be a soldier in Colin’s army. Does that cover everyone you’re thinking about?

I guess so, said the boy. Do you think Dorian and Ariana are all right?

They’re fine, said Elentir. They were both on their feet and doing well before they ever left the valley. Sarai and Rhia saw to that.

I like being with Rowan and the other guys, but I kind of miss everybody else.

I can understand that. We were together for a long time, and now you haven’t seen them in almost two months, said Elentir. Rhia will be taking her oath in a week or so, and Ariana’s last message said that they’re planning a party for her in Kaldor to celebrate. Would you like to go?

Could we? responded Alaric, looking up quickly from his drawing. I don’t want to stay there, but it would be fun to go for the party and see everyone.

I imagine we can arrange that, said Elentir. Now, are you ready to hear what the dragon’s tongue you found is good for?

Almost. I just need to finish this last leaf.

* * *

Rhia got lucky. The morning she was to take her oath was unseasonably cool. The heavy brocade gown Ariana had teased her about having to wear was quite comfortable.

From her room in the healer’s dormitory she could hear a single drum beating slowly, and Rhia felt her blood pulsing to the drum’s cadence. She’d thought she’d be apprehensive this close to the ceremony, but she wasn’t at all. She was filled with a joy she’d thought she’d never experience again. She was doing what she was supposed to do, and she could feel in the pulsing of her own heart the presence and the love of Elleth and Magda, Jorden and Daavide. They were here with her, listening to the drum, and waiting for the call to the initiates.

Ariana and Sarai had been with her most of the previous evening laughing, teasing, telling stories of oath-takers from centuries past who’d bungled the words of the oath, tripped on the ridiculous gowns, passed out in the heat. There was even a story of one hapless fellow who partied all night with his friends, and then slept through his own ceremony. His friends would have awakened him, had they not been passed out as well. In the history of the valley, it was the only time a ceremony was held without a single protector in attendance.

Of course, Sarai said, we’ll be setting a couple of new precedents with tomorrow’s ceremony as well.

Really, said Rhia. I didn’t know that. What are they?

Well, said Sarai, I’m not permitted to disclose the first, but the second is that this will be the first time, in the nearly two-thousand year history of the ceremony, that a person taking the oath is already an official in the valley.

Rhia blushed, as Ariana said, And if you don’t think that caused a stir with some of the more traditional masters—I thought Betzar was going to come to blows with a couple of them. They were incensed when they learned that he’d given you the position of chief assistant. Fortunately he had the guardian’s full support, so Betzar just told them to shut-up and look to their own responsibilities.

You’ll be interested to hear who your other chief supporter was, said Sarai.

Who? asked Rhia.

Ella, The Master of Wind, said Sarai, grinning.

You’re kidding, said Rhia. She was furious with me over the whole Elrhoheranan episode.

She was, until she realized how close Elrhoheranan had come to harnessing the power of this valley, said Sarai. When the rest of the oath-takers got back from their search assignments and heard what had happened, they were furious with the elemental masters. No one in this valley is more hidebound than that bunch.

Rhia smiled remembering Sarai’s indignation over the reception their warnings about Elrhoheranan had received before the battle. Their warning would have received a far different reception had the majority of the oath-takers she met in the past month been in residence before Tarn’s Month.

Rhia looked out her window at the small gathering of oath-takers milling around beneath the trees at the foot of the avenue leading to the Hall of Stones. She could see Ariana and Morvan standing with Sarai and Betzar. Morvan was talking when she’d first spotted them. He’d stopped, and now Betzar was laughing while Sarai looked disgusted, and Ariana shook her head and punched Morvan playfully on the arm. Rhia was quite certain that Morvan had just told an off color joke which the women didn’t appreciate, although Betzar was still laughing.

Rhia’s head swam, and she had to step away from the window. Although the group below her was small, everyone there wielded power. Power pulsed with the beating of the drum, and flickered with the sunbeams as they danced off the brightly colored jewels.

Rhia moved over to her desk and looked down at the report she and Betzar had been working on for Colin about the events leading up to the confrontation with Elrhoheranan. It was far from complete, but it was coming together, and she was beginning to see a pattern emerging. She smiled and turned back to the window, her heart lifting as it always did as she looked out on this most beautiful valley. As she looked down on the assembly, she saw at last the precedent setting surprise Ariana and Sarai had been unable to share with her the previous evening. Master Guardian Kieg had joined the celebrants, and Colin, King of Kryll and High King of Syreth, was supporting the guardian’s steps. Rhia grinned. Of course there’d be an exception to the, only oath-takers at the ceremony, rule made for the High King. After all—it was the first time in the history of the valley that they’d had a High King to invite.

As Rhia watched, Morvan moved over to the two, greeted Colin respectfully and said something to Master Kieg. Master Kieg called to Arek, and at a signal from the tall Master of Protectors, the cadence of the drums quickened, became less solemn, and more joyful; for despite the secrecy, the mystery, and the solemnity, the oath-taker’s rite was also a celebration. A celebration of life and of life’s responsibilities, acknowledged, and accepted. Morvan bowed once more to the High King, and then to his old friend Master Guardian Kieg and moved away to take his place with the rest of the adepts.

Diamonds winked on the brow of each man and woman in the ranks of the protectors as they lined up behind Arek, the Master of Protectors. Morvan took his place with Ariana behind Rowena, the Master of Adepts, while the line of healers, led by their master, Sarai, was already processing slowly to the Hall of Stones. More than thirty oath-takers had gathered for the ceremony. In a few minutes, the call would be made for the initiates, Rhia among them, to process to the Hall of Stones and join them. She straightened her robe and turned from the window. She was ready.

* * *

Colin, Ariana, and Rhia left the Valley of the Moon shortly after the banquet honoring the new oath-takers, stopped at Desert Home to pick up Elentir and Alaric, and arrived in Kaldor before dark. Elaine greeted everyone warmly and said, Rhia, the party is planned for tomorrow evening, which gives you twenty-four hours to rest and relax. You’re not allowed to attend a meeting, nor are you allowed to plan defensive or offensive strategies. You may not sit up all night with Ariana speculating about runes or spells, nor are you to allow Talroy to add anything to your current assignments.

Hey, said Talroy who’d just come in and was hugging Ariana and shaking hands with Elentir.

Elaine bowed to the stern regent and said, Rhia must be allowed to rest before the party.

Of course, she must, said Talroy, sweeping the surprised oath-taker into his arms, and adding, for I intend to dance her feet off at the party and put her right back to work the next day.

Everyone laughed at that, as no one had ever seen Talroy dance a step, even at Colin’s coronation and wedding.

* * *

Nathan, who was more than living up to Colin’s expectations for him, was released from duties and classes for the entire three days of Alaric’s visit, and the two boys had a great time. The morning of the party, Elentir arranged mounts for them and sent them off to the river to swim and explore with saddlebags full of their favorite treats. He, of course, warned them to be careful and promised to wear them out if they got into any trouble, but they just laughed. They both knew it would have to be awfully serious trouble before he’d ever consider laying a hand on either of them.

They caught each other up on what they’d been doing as they road out of the city and down to the river. Alaric even told Nathan about the episode with the giants and Mat’s injury. Nathan was disgusted with Alaric over the incident. He reached over and slapped him hard on the back of the head, You knew Elentir didn’t want you to go there, and don’t you even try to give me any guff about him not having actually said it out loud.

I wasn’t going to, protested Alaric, rubbing his head.

You know better than that, Alaric, said Nathan. You know how important honor is to Elentir.

I know, said Alaric, looking out at the river and avoiding Nathan’s gaze, but Rowan called me a coward.

So what? said Nathan. You know you’re not a coward. I know you’re not a coward, and most importantly, Elentir knows you’re not a coward. Who cares what anybody else thinks?

Sure, I know that now, said Alaric, I just didn’t know it then.

Yeah, said Nathan sagely. I guess I didn’t know it when I was ten either. Hey, you wanna go swimming now?

So they swam and skipped rocks and explored the cliffs above the river and ate to their hearts content. Finally Alaric said, We’d better be getting back. Elentir will want us to take baths and get dressed for the party.

Take baths? said Nathan. We’ve been swimming all day.

Yeah, said Alaric, packing up their picnic leftovers and shoving them into his saddlebags. Elentir’s got weird rules about stuff like that. He says swimming doesn’t count unless you use soap.

Well, said Nathan philosophically, as he mounted his horse, Corwin’s strict about stuff like that too. Every cadet has to bathe every day after classes.

Every day?

Yup.

Elentir’s not that bad, said Alaric as the two headed back to the city. I only have to take a bath before we have guests, or before a special occasion, or when Maris or Mai points out to him that I’m filthy. He doesn’t usually notice.

* * *

Rhia’s party was a great success. And Talroy actually danced. Rhia insisted. So he danced with her, and with Elaine, and then with Ariana, Janaya, Gilraen, Romendil, Rodama, Danni, Cori, and Shandra in turn. Ariana even made Elentir dance. He too, had managed to avoid that particular activity at the coronation, but Talroy’s joke the previous evening meant that the women were after all the men to dance with them. Duncan didn’t mind, as he’d always loved dancing, and Colin, with Elaine’s help, had overcome his shyness about dancing and actually enjoyed it, so did Morvan, Corwin, Reece, and Jarrett, though Braeden took a lot of coaxing. Dorian was a natural dancer and taught everyone some elderkin folk dances that had the whole group laughing, gasping for air, and demanding ale after half an hour. Rodama even got Nathan and Alaric to dance. They were the only two who could keep up with Dorian.

Chapter 2

Colin rubbed at his eyes, trying to chase the weariness from them. This meeting, like all the meetings he’d had in the nearly two months since the battle in the Valley of the Moon seemed endless. He hoped Talroy was taking his usual detailed notes, because there was simply too much to keep in his head. Let me summarize what we have, he said wearily, to see if I understand everything correctly and to make certain we’re all looking at the same picture. This self-styled queen, whom the sea ree’ma have named Elrhoheranan, is still out there, and we don’t have any idea where she is, what she plans, or how to stop her. We don’t know if she’ll attack by magic, with an army, or at all, and we believe that our most effective weapon may be this rune, or set of runes, he gestured to the drawing on the table.

The heads around the table nodded in unison.

And according to what Ariana and Rhia were told by Teagan of the Sea Ree’ma, the design was created by Ardghal, one of the adepts who founded the Valley of the Moon. Also according to Teagan it has components from each of the four races, and represents the four elements and the four components of life, and is composed of four different metals.

And the joining of each element with its component—water and heart, earth and body, wind and mind, fire and spirit—involves a spell, Ariana said, which we must learn in order to activate the power of the runes. That gives us four times four—an indication of considerable power. It’s possible there will be a proper sequence as well. It’s complicated.

Yeah, I got that part, Dorian muttered to Rodama, who nodded her agreement.

Rhia and I got the ree’ spell from Teagan, Ariana continued. So we need to find and learn the spells associated with the humans, the jo’ma and the elderkin.

And, Duncan took up the thread, there is still the matter of Alaric and his family. We know that the queen used Celli, and we know that Celli killed Alaric’s parents. But we don’t know why.

And we don’t know how that piece of the puzzle fits with the runes, if at all, continued Janaya, but it’s possible that the Alaric piece will give us information about where she is and what she wants.

What worries me is that we have no idea how much time we have, said Rodama. This, Elrhoheranan, she said the name with a tone of distaste, is obviously patient. She and Mordeth waited thousands of years for the reappearance of the High King, but she’s opportunistic as well. If we make a mistake, she’ll capitalize on it. And she’s likely to be flexible in her own plans—at least in the means—if not the ends.

It’s all very discouraging, sighed Dorian, receiving nods of agreement from Gilraen and Romendil, who hadn’t yet spoken up in one of these meetings. They were unused to having a seat at the table, and neither intended to do or say anything that might jeopardize that seat.

I’m glad to hear that you all have a clear understanding of what we’re up against, said Talroy. I also need for you to understand that after what happened with Thomas, we have to be very careful about who we trust. No one, beyond those at this table, and a very few others, should be relied upon. I say this for their safety as well as our own. If that woman detects a weak link, she will exploit it.

Talroy’s right, said Colin. Please don’t share our plans with anyone that doesn’t have to know what we’re doing, and that’s a very short list: Rhia, Elentir and Alaric, Elaine and Danni, Cori and Reece, Jarrett, Shandra, and perhaps two or three more.

You might want to contract that list even further, Your Majesty, said Braeden unexpectedly. I’ve spent a lot of time with Thomas, and we have yet to figure out how and when his mind was seized. It might be better at this point to confine the knowledge of our activities to the immediate participants.

It’s a frightening idea, but your point’s well taken, said Colin after a moment. I think we ought to heed Braeden’s advice. I’ll ask you not to discuss this with anyone not directly involved and not to discuss it at all unless you’re as certain as any of us can be of privacy.

Agreed, said Talroy as everyone else nodded. The plan Colin and I’ve devised involves splitting into teams. One team will research Alaric and his family; one will search for the human rune; one will get the rune and spells from the jo’ma; another will get them from the elderkin. We will also need someone to find out more about the adept, Ardghal, in the hope that such knowledge will somehow help; and oh yes, one to repair the damage from our last run-in with that woman and to keep the kingdom functioning.

The friends sitting around the table smiled at that last, knowing exactly who was responsible for that particular task. As usual, the regent had left nothing out. It was a daunting list, but the plan Talroy laid before was a reasonable one. As Duncan and Janaya had experience with the jo’ma, they, and Gil, would tackle that assignment. Dorian would return to the Blue Glade to attempt to find the spell associated with the elderkin, and Rodama and Romendil would accompany him. Ariana would remain in Kryll, as Teagan had suggested, searching for clues that might lead them to the human rune. Elaine and Danni would tackle the genealogical research on Alaric’s family. Rhia would continue her work in the Valley of the Moon on the human rune, and Colin would send her a message to add Ardghal’s history to her research. Talroy, Braeden, and Colin would concentrate on keeping Kryll and the rest of Syreth safe and functioning. And, as usual, everyone would be alert to any information that might help Colin to communicate with the gryphons.

* * *

Ariana was particularly busy in the next few days. She began by explaining the proper way to handle spell scrolls to the six members of the company who would be off searching for the spells of the jo’ma and the elderkin. Handle the scrolls as little as possible, and do not, under any circumstances read them, beyond what might be necessary to ensure that you have what you’re looking for.

Why can’t we read them? asked Dorian.

Reading a spell scroll begins the process of implanting the spell in an adept’s memory, said Ariana, and as soon as it is read the scroll begins to fade. An adept has, at most, three readings of a spell, depending on its complexity, before the scroll is once again blank.

So if we read it, the scroll could go blank and the spell would be lost forever?

That’s about the size of it, Dorian. We can only hope, that whoever was chosen to guard the spells has done so very carefully for the last two thousand years. If the scrolls were tampered with, then the spells are already lost.

When she’d prepared her companions as carefully as possible for their assignments, she sent Aya with messages to Elentir and Alaric at Desert Home, and to Rhia in the Valley of the Moon. Then she helped Elaine and Danni move the appropriate scrolls and records to the south tower. Finally, she and Colin worked out a system of arcane protections for Elaine, should anyone, or anything, threaten her. Colin was pleased that Ariana would be staying in Kaldor. Healers he had; but he wanted Elaine and his unborn heir kept safe, and Ariana was one of the few people he trusted to help him with that.

* * *

Much to Gilraen’s annoyance, neither Duncan nor Janaya would tell her anything about the jo’ma, and being Kryllian, she didn’t even have nursery tales to fall back upon. It quickly became clear that no amount of pestering would move them, so she resolved to deny them the satisfaction of repeated requests for information. Still, the reminder of yet another shared secret between these two rankled, and she felt a bit as if they were ganging up on her. They’d been friends all their lives, and Gilraen couldn’t help but feel a bit excluded. For someone as empathic as Janaya was supposed to be, she seemed awfully slow to recognize those times when Gilraen found her presence inconvenient.

In this, Gilraen was quite wrong. Janaya knew exactly how Gilraen was feeling, but she also felt that if she proved too self-effacing, traveling with the newlyweds could become extremely uncomfortable. Besides, Duncan was her best friend, and Janaya had absolutely no intention of letting that change just because he’d decided to get married.

For his part, Duncan was perceptive enough to be fully aware of the tension between the two women, and smart enough to stay out of it. Life in his family’s home had taught him the wisdom of feigning ignorance.

* * *

"Rodama, wake up! Dorian said, poking his friend’s shoulder gently, but insistently. Wake up!"

Huh? Wha—?

Rodama, wake up, c’mon!

Dorian? She sat upright, fully awake. What is it? What’s wrong?

Nothing’s wrong. The elderkin sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his friend. How could you forget? Today is the day we go to the Blue Glade. You need to get ready.

Rodama looked at the elderkin sitting impatiently on the edge of her bed and then peered out the open window at the darkness beyond. What time is it?

I don’t know. An hour or two before sunrise, I guess.

Rodama pushed him off the bed, and he landed with a loud thump on the floor. Dorian, there’s no way Colin is going to take us anywhere until after breakfast, and you made me pack three days ago. Now, you have three choices: you can go back to your own room; you can go wake Romendil up and see if she’ll talk to you for the next several hours; or you can stay here where I’ll most likely kill you. It’s up to you.

He looked up at her sadly from his position on the floor and asked wistfully, Aren’t you excited?

The part of Rodama that didn’t want to strangle him stifled an urge to hug him. Dorian, I love you. You’re my best friend in the world, and I promise I’ll be just as excited as you are, but not for a few more hours. Right now I’m going to go back to sleep. I suggest you do the same. So saying Rodama turned over, flipped her pillow to the cool side, snuggled back into her blankets, and sighed in contentment.

Dorian sighed as well, climbed to his feet, and padded out of Rodama’s room and down the hall to his own. He lit his bedside candle, crawled back into bed, and lay there rehearsing what he’d say to his family and friends when he saw them at last in the Blue Glade.

* * *

"So, Dorian, are you excited about going home?" Colin asked a few hours later, as they walked down the marble stairway toward the courtyard where the group had been told to assemble.

Dorian shrugged, I suppose. Mostly I’m just thinking about the assignment, Sire, he said, in an overly casual tone of voice.

Rodama came bounding down the stairs behind them and called, "Oy, Dorian, it’s a great day for traveling, and I can’t wait to see